Hurry! $100 off Tablets at Staples - That Was Easy

Have you been wanting a new tablet, but found it was just a little bit out of your price range?  Well, until the end of July you can save $100 on any tablet at Staples!!  The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer for $300?  The Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 for $400?  A Motorola Xoom for $400?  A Dell Streak 7 for only $200?!  Click below and print to redeem this offer in any U.S. store before July 30th!!!

Keep in mind, most of the time you can also take coupons to a Best Buy or Office Depot and they will match the price (in case your local Staples is sold out).  Call ahead to see what policies your particular stores will follow.

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Behavior Status - For Teachers & Parents

I'd like to start off with an app that can run on Android phones or tablets and is meant to give teachers and parents a way to track and report behaviors in their classroom or home.


It's called Behavior Status.  I will be reviewing the Donate version (a free version is also available). 


Behavior Status allows you to create a list of students/children or classes of students and track their behaviors using a Green, Yellow and Red touch stoplight feature.  

    

This app also provides the ability to add a time stamp and notes about that behavior.  Each behavior can be ranked by severity using a separate color-coding system.



Specific behaviors can also be tracked and analyzed.  Reports are generated and can be shared through email.  This is extremely beneficial for teachers who can quickly and easily share information on student behavior with the student's family.  

Though I have not yet been able to put this app to use with a real classroom, I look forward to doing so this coming year.  I've spent some time creating pretend classrooms in order to learn the features, and I've been very impressed.  I especially like that you can get a monthly view of a student's behavior.  I think this will really come in handy at conferences, especially to highlight students with consistent good behavior.   

I enjoying making positive phone calls home to parents, and this app will help me to track the good behaviors my students are doing, something that I often neglect.  While I know that the students were well-behaved and can share my happiness with the parents, I'm not sure that I often write down specific examples of good behavior.  This app is quick and easy to use, and will allow me the opportunity to track these behaviors without taking time away from my teaching.  Of course, the same can be done for negative behaviors.  Trends in behavior can be identified and addressed.  


Have you ever used Behavior Status?  Please share your thoughts and ideas!


If you download Behavior Status because of this article, please leave a comment and let me know how YOU are putting it to use!


Thank you, Chris L. Bennett!

(Here's a link to Behavior Status Donate in the Android Market.  While there is also a free version available, I highly recommend the $0.99 donation.  (Thanks, Ashley, for pointing out that you must first install the free version, and then add the donate version as an upgrade.)  This developer is very dedicated and will continue to develop the app using the support from the donation version of this app.  By giving a donation, you get the app ad-free and also receive some of the advanced features, such as Specific Behavior Tracking.)

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Welcome!

Welcome!!!

After completing my NETS*T Certification this year (along with 5 other amazing techie teachers!), my school division rewarded us with a great surprise.  We were given the opportunity to choose from a collection of tools that would continue us on our journey to find innovative ways to build digital literacy and citizenship in our classroom.  It was completely unexpected and we were instantly excited!  

The list included: a short-throw LCD projector, 3 iPod Touches, 1 iPad2, or 6 digital voice recorders. 

My mind instantly began the daunting task of weighing the pros and cons of each gadget in an effort to make the best decision for my classroom.  I quickly decided that a short-throw projector would simply be easier as far as classroom configuration, but I wasn't sure I could find ways for it to be more beneficial to my students' learning than a regular projector, so that was the first one off the list.  I also realized, while the convenience and multitude of 6 digital recorders could lead to great group projects with high mobility, I knew I could get the same (though less mobile) results using other technology.  This left me with the iPod Touches and the iPad2.  As I did my research, I began to wonder if my division would allow me to go down a different path.  I've always been a huge fan of the Android OS (and Google), and so I proposed that I be allowed to try out an android tablet.  The answer was, Yes!  I am the proud user/explorer of a Motorola Xoom.    

While all of the other teachers in my cohort choose to explore the options an iPad2 has to offer, I began searching for resources that focused on Android.  During my preliminary research, I'd found tons of websites about how iPads could be put to use in schools, so I thought my search for Android-based websites would be easy. 

I was wrong.

When I started searching for resources on the Web that highlighted using the Android OS, I found that, well, there are only a handful.  That's when my idea for Elementary Android came about.

I can't promise that mine will be the best ideas out there, that I'll always have the answers, or that the Android way will always top the iWay, but I can promise that this site will be a place where resources are gathered, ideas are shared, and kids' learning is always the main focus.  I hope you'll join me!  I look forward to all of the great collaboration and learning that will happen as we begin to explore Elementary Android together!

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Check Back Soon

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!! :)

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